


Parallel

by ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Bisexual Character of Color, Bisexual Female Character, But he's, Canon Asexual Character, Cyberpunk, Dealing With Trauma, Depression, Dystopia, F/F, F/M, I live for feedback, Mental Health Issues, Multiverse Theory, Original Fiction, POV Bisexual Character, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Science Fiction, Social Anxiety, Steampunk, The Big Bad™, Time Travel, Victorian Science Fiction, War, but i really don't think it gets too bloody, but read at your own discretion, comment please, i tagged this for graphic violence, well ok its like one alien
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 12:56:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17509052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil/pseuds/ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil
Summary: Heather Riis has her whole life planned ahead of her. She's graduated high school, has an acceptance letter to Virginia Tech, and is about to turn eighteen. She is finally going to get out of her small town in Wisconsin - just not the way she thinks.Everything goes wrong when The Takers appear at her local mall and choose her as their next Captive. She wakes up in the Parallel - a parallel universe where nothing seems to be right. Her only company is Aaron Davis, a boy from her world who has been there since he was eight years old.From fighting armies to befriending vagabonds and destroying an alien dictator, the pair breaks through space and time to try and return home when the portal between worlds reopens. But will they be too late?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LilyLuna2018](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyLuna2018/gifts).



> I have had the hardest time rewriting this book (if you're wondering, I'm on draft number three). I kind of thrive on feedback, and I've made slow progress in the past five years of working on this book without said feedback. So, I'm putting it out here. I feel more comfortable putting it here than on another platform, I guess.
> 
> When I start sending to publishers (probably even when I start beta readers), I will probably take this down. This is just a middle draft of a book that's still far from perfect. But it's a story I've been working on telling for so long that I just really want someone to be able to read it.
> 
> My mom told me that I should write this for me, just like I write my fan fiction for me. And, on some level, I guess I do that. But more than that? I write for you. Because when you comment something or tell me that something was funny or sad or well-written...it's what I'm writing for. Because I think, "I'm going to write this, and she's going to absolutely love it!" or, "Oh, this is going to make her so sad, but she's going to love that!"
> 
> (You know who you are.)

            Days like those were why I didn’t leave the house.

I hated people – well, specifically, I hated _groups_ of people. I would’ve rather stayed home every day, reading a book, playing a video game. More than anything, I wanted to lock myself in my room, away from my loud father, my pestering mother, and my annoying little sister with her annoying little friends. They were just so exhausting to be around.

But when the Riis family went to the mall, that meant the _whole_ Riis family. Even me.

“You don’t _have_ to go anywhere, Heather,” my mother said, smiling sweetly. “But Jocelyn is coming.”

Bribery. Absolute bribery.

Wherever you could find a Jocelyn, a Heather was surely close by. If my best friend was going to be there, it would be stupid not to go along. I knew they weren’t bluffing. I knew that Joce would go without me, because she loved my family.

So, in the simmering heat of mid-July, I was stuffed in a car with my parents, sister, and best friend, driving from the Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin, up to Eau Claire for some actual civilization. Most days, I survived without any true tragedy.

I should’ve just stayed home this time.

But this isn’t the story of how I was dragged to the mall by my family. This is the story of how I would tear apart the multiverse to get back to my best friend.

 

We sat in the food court at the table in the furthest corner, and I tried to drown myself in my hoodie to avoid unnecessary interaction. I couldn’t shake the feeling that people were looking at me. I knew they weren’t, but sometimes, when I was out and about, there was just this overwhelming sense of dread. Alarm when I didn’t really need to be alarmed.

Jocelyn, on the other hand, was doing great. She slowly picked apart a cinnamon roll, savoring each bite like it was a taste of heaven itself. She claimed it was “mindfulness”, and that she was just trying to make it last longer, appreciate the food for all its worth. I didn’t get it, but then again, I didn’t get a lot of what she said.

“Heather, take off your hood. Society doesn’t trust teenagers, and you look like you’re going to shoot up the place, what with all your glaring.” She took another piece.

“Society is racist,” I replied evenly. I hoped a joke would divert the conversation. It didn’t.

“Heather…”

“I’ll curse them out in Punjabi.”

“You don’t speak Punjabi,” she reminded me. “Your family has lived in America for _four_ generations.”

“I learned some of the fun words from my cousins.” And I had. I didn’t remember any of them when I felt like the entire population of the Midwest was breathing down my neck, but I had learned them. “I don’t want to be here, Joce.”

“You can do it! Exposure is good. Remember what your therapist said.”

I groaned. “It’s been a year since I’ve seen her. Maybe it doesn’t apply anymore. Besides,” I added, “I still feel hypervigilant, paranoid, and have a hard time trusting people.”

“You’re so self-aware,” she cooed. “Get it together, now. You’re doing amazing! Hood?”

And I took off my hood, because she was right. The exposure to anxiety-inducing situations was good for me. It reminded me that I had nothing to be scared of.

(If there is a god, they were laughing in my face at that thought. Today was going to be unbelievable.)

“You _know_ ,” she continued, “your birthday’s in a couple days! So, why don’t we get some things to wear to your party next Sunday! The whole theater club will be there…”

“Not him?”

“Never him.”

Since theater consisted of the same people, more or less, from middle school through senior graduation, I felt at ease with most of them. They weren’t always breathing down my neck, and it was a general rule to let the techies be unless they spoke to you directly. Most of our actors were considerate. I was the stage manager as well, which meant that my fellow techies respected me out of my position. It was a calm situation.

I was going to miss it.

“Don’t look so sad,” she said. “You know, soon you’ll be doing this professionally.”

“New people,” I pointed out.

“New opportunities.”

“I wish I had your optimism.”

“I think that you are optimistic,” she argued. “But you’ve never known what to be optimistic about before. Give it some time. When faced with the uncertainty of life outside of Wisconsin…you’ll find yourself looking up.”

“I’ll find myself melting down.”

“Don’t say things like that! Bad luck.” Another bite of her cinnamon roll. “I hate that we’re not going to school together.”

“Me too.” I didn’t talk to her about it much, but the fact that we weren’t going to even the same _state_ for college was terrifying. Since meeting her, we never went longer than twelve hours apart. She was my constant, and she was the only person that didn’t drain me to be around. The idea of being so far away… I hated it.

“At least we can still call, right?”

“Yeah.” I gave a half-hearted smile. “And see each other during breaks.”

“I’m never out of reach.” She reached across the table and offered me her hand. I took it. “I got you. I promise.”

 

“ _Oh_ my god, look!” Jocelyn held up a dress she found in our favorite store. “It’s a _Doctor Who_ dress. It looks like Eleven, but it’s a dress. How cute!”

“Very cute. I think I saw one with the TARDIS,” I recalled, sifting through the racks.

I loved this store. It was a little cluttered, so on bad days, I couldn’t go inside, but on good days – better days, at least – it was okay. The people there weren’t as intimidating to me, and I felt like I could breathe when I heard the familiar music playing on the speakers. It was like a safe haven.

“I bet we can find something cute for you to wear to the party here,” Jocelyn said, turning to the clothes that weren’t about a book, movie, or show. “Hmm…this is nice!”

“I don’t like dresses,” I reminded her. “What about this?” I pointed to a nice blouse.

“Ooh, yes! With some black jeans…maybe a scarf…” She tilted her head, envisioning it. “I like it. Perfect.”

“I’ll grab it, then.”

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket.

**[From: Kat]**

Hey, Heather, look what I found! _1:52 p.m._

_(Attachment: 1 photo) 1:52 p.m._

Can you get it for me? Pleeeeeassseee <3 _1:52 p.m._

            “What is it?” Jocelyn asked, looking over my shoulder.

I showed her the picture. “Katherine wants a doll that has a dress that matches hers.”

“Cute,” she laughed.

“I can’t believe you don’t believe she’s the devil incarnate,” I groaned, putting my phone away. “I swear, she’s an evil child.”

“But you love her!”

“Of course, I do. I’m not a monster, Joce.”

“You’re gonna get her that doll, aren’t you?”

“…maybe.”

“It costs as much as this blouse!”

I felt the urge to ditch the blouse and buy this for my sister instead. She was a brat, yes. Evil, yes. Annoying, yes. But she was also eight years younger than me, and there was this impulse within me to spoil her until she stopped hating me. I think she knew, and I am pretty sure she abused it.

“I’m buying you this blouse. I can’t believe how guilty you get buying things for yourself.”

“I don’t know, I just don’t _need_ new things.”

“No, but it’s okay to want from time to time!”

I sighed and leaned against her. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” Before she could say any more, her face went pale. “What the hell?” Her eyes fixated on the mirror in front of us.

“What?” I asked, squinting to see whatever she was seeing.

“I…” She shook her head. “No, it must’ve been my imagination. Let’s – um – let’s check out?”

“Okay.”

 

As we walked to the store Katherine was in, the subject of college came up again.

I pulled the acceptance letter from Virginia Tech out of my pocket, staring at it for the millionth time. “I still can’t believe it.”

“That you got in? Or that you’re going soon?”

“That I’m going at all.”

Senior year had been harder than I would’ve liked to admit, and there were points I didn’t think I was going to graduate. The fact that I got into a good tech school, _and_ that I was emotionally stable enough to go…it was surreal. Like some miracle had been worked in my favor.

“Okay, what the fuck?” She whirled around again, frowning from passing another reflective surface.

“What?” I asked. “What are you seeing?”

“I…” She was pale – and I mean paler than her Irish complexion usually was. “This is weird, Heather.”

“That’s okay.”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

I gestured to my own head. “I’m…literally on antipsychotics?”

“Okay.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I keep seeing my best friend from Colorado in the mirrors.”

I blinked. “Uh, the one who got kidnapped?”

“Yes.”

“Who was never found?”

“That’s the one.”

“The reason your family came to Wisconsin in the first place?”

“Yeah.” She looked around, and she seemed more high-strung and agitated than me. Unusual. “I’m sorry, this is stupid. I’m imagining it, right?”

“Hey, are you okay? You look really freaked out.”

“I…” She shook her head. “You know that freaks me out more than anything. I guess it’s just too much.”

Jocelyn didn’t like to talk about her former best friend much, but I knew the basics of the story. Their families were at an amusement park together on a crowded summer day. It was his eighth birthday. Then, a bunch of people dressed in white appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and just like that, he was gone. There had been seven similar disappearances in the ten years before then, so Jocelyn’s family moved as far away as they could.

Now, she was here, and she had an extreme fear of kidnappings. She was mostly over it, after a decade, but I didn’t blame her for seeming so spooked. That was traumatic.

“It’s probably nothing,” she decided. “Let’s – let’s go.”

“What was his name?” I pressed, just once.

“Aaron,” she replied. “Aaron Davis. And it is his name. Please…don’t talk about him in the past tense.”

I nodded. Even though I didn’t see the use in thinking he was still alive, Jocelyn was optimistic. I wasn’t going to take that away from her.

 

The walk to the store across the mall felt more and more unsettling.

I was certain it was just the anxiety, because that was what I’d been learning to tell myself. It was just the anxiety, and I was just imagining it. That man wasn’t staring at me. That woman didn’t just look at me weird. And I did _not_ just see Jocelyn’s former best friend in the mirror when he wasn’t actually behind us, because that was impossible.

_It’s just the paranoia._

I’m not a psychology expert or anything, but I’m pretty sure that there’s nothing worse for a panic disorder than having your worst fear come to life. It makes it difficult to tell yourself there’s nothing to worry about.

They came out of seemingly nowhere. People dressed in white, faces hidden… I didn’t see them walk over. They just _appeared_. And the panic rose until it spilled out, and I was left with fight or flight. The rest of my brain functions were shutting down.

“Katherine.” Right then, I only knew I needed to find my little sister. I didn’t know if she was with my parents. She had a tendency to wander off when she found something that she liked. If the target was younger kids, then I needed to find her. I had to protect her. “Katherine!”

“Heather, be careful.” Jocelyn grabbed my hand, her voice pleading. “Stay still, they said to stay still.”

_Did they? Did they say something? Are they talking?_ There were voices – too many voices.

“Katherine!” I was screaming, crying; I had to find her, get to her. It was a sisterly instinct kicking into full gear. If I didn’t find her, I was going to melt down. “Katherine!”

“You’re drawing attention to us,” Jocelyn whimpered. “Please, Heather…please…”

I was being insensitive. Her worst fear was being drawn out here, too, after all.

“I’m so-”

The world went dark.

 

Even now, it only comes back to me in flashes.

My eyes would open, but there were only bursts of light. Then there was darkness, so deep I felt like I was staring into the abyss until it drowned my soul. The feeling of falling through a bottomless pit.

Cement floors. Grey walls. Blinding lights. Metal tables. Uncomfortable chairs. Faint humming. Distant music.

I remember a hallway, then nothing. A classroom, then nothing again. I remember screaming, crying, but I can’t remember why. I remember the feeling of being strangled, but not the experience itself. I remember begging for my life, but I can’t remember to whom.

I remember a grey platform in the middle of a white room. Machines beeping, electricity buzzing. An Indian woman in a white doctor’s coat was smiling, saying something that I couldn’t seem to hear. She was tying me to the platform, but before I could ask why, a pillow case was secured over my head.

 

My eyes flew open when I heard a mechanical voice say, “Entering the Tenth Level, Standard Three. Welcome, Heather Riis, to the Parallel.”


	2. Chapter 2

            “What the fuck?” I muttered, sitting up too fast. My vision went black for a second, and I saw stars. That was the weirdest dream of my life.

No. It wasn’t a dream. Some guy was leaning over me, brow furrowed in what resembled concern, but more seemed to be annoyance and curiosity.

“Who are you?” I coughed, trying to move away. “Where am I? Get me out of here! Let – let me go!” I lashed out weakly, but whatever I’d been drugged with hadn’t worn off.

He frowned harder. “Drink this.” He put a cup to my lips. “It helps with the sickness.”

“The sickness?” I repeated, sniffing the liquid. “The fuck is this stuff?”

“Interdimensional travel sickness,” he said as though it were nothing. “I don’t know. Drink it, or you can spend the next forty-eight hours blinking in and out of existence until you simply cease to be. I don’t care.”

I decided that despite how ludicrous that sentence was, it also sounded like an unpleasant way to go, so I drank it.

“That doesn’t tell me where I am, or who you are? Are you-?” I stopped, blinking spots out of my eyes. “Are you one of _them_?”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head sharply. I was finally able to see him clearly, and, well…

Damn.

When he shook his head, there was shaggy brown hair that swished with it. His widened eyes revealed irises that looked like storm clouds were pooled inside of them…and they were red, like he’d been crying. Dark circles, like it had been hours since he’d last slept. His lips were chapped, and I could already see he had a bad habit of chewing them.

“The Takers don’t stay around with the Captives,” he said. “I…I was taken too. Just, a really long time ago.”

“Oh.” I met his eyes. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Ten years, and you’re the first person to ask me that,” he huffed.

“ _Sorry_ , but I don’t exactly trust-”

“You just might make it, Heather Riis.” His expression brightened, just for a moment. “You shouldn’t trust me, or anything, in this place. But I will say that I’m not here to hurt you. I was taken, just like you.”

“Okay,” I said. I didn’t really think he was lying, but…this wasn’t getting better. “Where am I?”

“This is the Parallel.”

“What in the ever-loving fuck does that mean?”

“Do you know any other words besides _fuck_?”

I smiled. “Yeah, I’m also a fan of shit.”

“Great, she makes jokes when she’s in a bad situation. That’s going to be awesome for the next two years.” His eyes got dark once again, and his hopelessness returned.

“The next two – what the fuck are you talking about? And what is your name? Do I get to know that?”

“Two years. That’s how long it’ll be before the System chooses someone new to bring in. Every two years, always the same day.”

“What about on a leap year?” I pressed.

“What?”

“I mean, does that throw off the schedule?”

He scoffed. “Unbelievable.”

I straightened up, irritation starting to replace my fear. “You know what? I don’t know you, and I don’t know where I am. I would like to know what the fuck is happening? Why am I here? Where is here? What does any of this mean?”

“Can you stand?” he asked, avoiding every single question.

“I am not going anywhere with you,” I decided.

“The Parallel, like a parallel universe. Congratulations, you’ve been kidnapped from your home universe to fight in someone else’s war at the end of the world. Welcome to the party.” He glared and offered me his hand. “Can. You. Stand.”

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. There was no way I believed any of this, but I had to hear more anyways.

“Good. Come with me. It’s time for your tour.”

 

The house we were in was uncomfortably clean. Everything was grey, and it looked like a five-star hotel and a prison had a fucked-up baby. Despite this, it looked lived in. It looked like the people trapped here were trying to make it a home.

“So, that’s the kitchen,” he said, gesturing to our right. “Down this hall are the two bedrooms, and there’s a bathroom there. In the back, there’s the library. Over there is storage, but it’s not really storage, and do _not_ , by _any means_ go in there.”

I followed him like a zombie, unsure of what to do or say. Could I really believe he was just another victim? What if he was going to kill me? Enslave me? Do worse?

“If you have questions, ask,” he snapped. “Don’t just look at me like that.”

“Okay. First question: the fuck is your problem?”

“I just had to say goodbye to a friend of two years. We became like family. So, sorry, but I’m a little upset right now.”

“Why did you have to say goodbye?”

“She wasn’t strong enough,” he whispered. He licked his lips before explaining, “If one person is stronger than the other at the end of the two years, the weaker one leaves. That’s the System’s way of picking the best teams to send into battle, I think.”

“You’re really serious, then? That we’re in a parallel universe?”

“Yes.”

“So, there’s no way to get back?”

“Only the System and the Takers know.”

I started rocking on the balls of my feet, tapping my fingers on my leg, trying to think of the best thing to ask next. “Um…do you know how this works?”

“I’ll explain it another time.”

That was frustrating. “What’s your name? You never told me.”

“Aaron. Aaron Davis.”

I looked up and met his eyes. “Your name is _what_?”

“What? It’s just a name. And it’s kind of a boring name.”

He didn’t get it. Oh, he didn’t get it. This was the weirdest thing to happen to me, and that was including the whole kidnapping and being sent to another universe.

“Aaron Davis. You’ve got to be – I mean – no, he’s _dead_ ,” I insisted. “He went missing ten years ago, and the only person who even still thinks he’s alive is Jocelyn because she’s too optimistic for her own-”

“You know Jocelyn?” he asked. His lip started to shake, and he looked like he was going to start crying again. “Is – how – I mean – how is she?”

I didn’t know what to make of his sudden soft demeanor. “She’s good. She’s going to be an actress professionally. Wants to be on Broadway.”

He nodded, leaning against the wall. “That’s so like her. She’s always loved that kind of thing, you know?”

“You’re for real,” I realized. “Like, you’re _the_ Aaron Davis, and we’re in a parallel freaking universe, and this is just a normal thing now?”

He nodded again. “Unfortunately, yeah.” He pushed forward and walked back down the hall to the room where we began. “Would you like to see the place you’re stuck in, now?”

I followed him. “Yeah. Alright.”

When we got outside, it looked like the typical house in the middle of the forest. There were so many trees, but we were in a clearing. To my left, there was a pond and what looked like a small barn. To my left, a vegetable garden that looked like it was overflowing with crops.

“Wow.” After the prison-like atmosphere inside the house, I expected something more dystopian outside. But the sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day in a beautiful forest in the middle of July.

“Yeah,” Aaron agreed, clearing his throat. “Over there, every food you’d ever need. I don’t know how the soil is so good or the crops are so easy to maintain, but I’m sure there’s some sort of technology courtesy of the System. Then, there, we have chickens. You can fish in the pond. It never runs out.”

“That’s…really weird,” I decided. “Wow.”

“You’ll learn how to help care for the garden in a few weeks’ time, but for now, just…adjust to your new situation.” He gave me a look of sadness and compassion, and it made my heart hurt. “Follow me.”

I did, observing how the house looked smaller outside than I’d expected. I began to wonder why we couldn’t just run away, if there was an outside. Surely, there was a way?

“There has to be,” I mumbled to myself.

Two years. That was what Aaron had said. It would take two years for one of us to be allowed to go back home. Two whole years, while Jocelyn relived her worst nightmares. While I lived without her. I couldn’t, I couldn’t, I…

“Heather, are you paying any at-?” He turned around and found me frozen in place. I don’t remember it much, but if I had to guess, I was pale and shaking and had a blank stare at nothing in particular.

_Two years, I can’t for two years, without her, my family, how, I got into college, I was doing better, everything was going better, no I can’t, no, no…_

“Heather.” When did he get so close to me? “Breathe. It’s – it’s – um – in, two, three, four?” I followed his count. “Then – then – hold, two, three, four? Out, two, three, four…hold, two, three, four. Can – um – can you do – do that? Again?”

I nodded, and I did.

“I swear, if the System kidnaps, and _then_ sends to _Level Ten_ one more person with anxiety…” His face was angry, tears returning to his eyes. “I’m going to kill It.”

“W-what?” I managed.

He didn’t answer, only turned back around. “There’s a flower garden back here.”

I followed, looking at where he was gesturing. It was beautiful, and it had a Victorian vibe. There were so many flowers, with a stone pathway going through the garden. There was a fountain and a bench to sit at.

“It’s amazing,” I breathed. For a moment, I forgot my panic.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It helps.”

I nodded in agreement, walking down the path in almost a trance. “Wow…”

“We can stay here, if you need,” he offered.

I nodded again, sitting on the bench. I tried to ignore the tears falling down my face. “Thank you.”

“Heather, may I ask you something?” he said, sitting beside me.

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

My chest tightened. I usually hated that question, because usually there wasn’t an answer. This time, however, there was one.

“I’m not going to college next month. I’m not going to my birthday party Jocelyn is throwing on Sunday. And, I’m not going to see her for two years. My mom, my dad, my sister…” I put my head in my hands. “I guess you know how that is, though, right?”

He nodded, putting a hand on my back. “I don’t really know what to say. I don’t think it ever gets easier here. But – but for what it’s worth? I hope the pain lessens.”

I sniffled and wiped my face with my sleeve. “Thanks. You too, Aaron.”

“Did – did you say something about your birthday?”

“Yeah. It’s in two days. The big eighteen.” I gave half-hearted jazz hands. “Why? Wait.” I remembered this part of Jocelyn’s story. Aaron was taken on his birthday. “Oh.”

He nodded, pushing back his bangs. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

“Well, it’s been ten years. I don’t really think I care anymore,” he lied. I could see in his face that he did care.

“Yeah, if Jocelyn can spend today freaking out about – wait.”

“What?”

“She _saw you_ today.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“In like six different mirrors.”

“She was imagining it.”

“ _I_ saw you. I thought you looked familiar.”

He shook his head. “Then, you were imagining it too. You’re imagining it.”

“Why? What if – I mean, there’s always portals. Always.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything,” I replied. “Every science fiction thing I’ve ever read.” My brain was going into overdrive, but there was an unsettling excitement building up in my chest. “That I’ve watched – Aaron! Portals, right? What if there’s something in the mirrors? And we can get home? I mean, surely with that giant library, there’s a way to research, right?”

He frowned. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Are you out of yours?” I countered. “Have you never thought about this? I mean, maybe, just maybe-?”

“Enough!” He stood up. “Don’t. Please, you seem like a nice girl, Heather. Don’t do this to yourself. There’s no way out. The only one who knows is the System. There’s no way to get out, and you are not going to waste two years of our lives trying to figure it out.”

“Maybe you just never tried hard enough.”

“Because I knew better!” he snapped. “The one who was here when I arrived? He told me. Told me not to get my hopes up.”

“Maybe he had already lost hope.”

“There’s no way out! You’re never getting home! Just accept it! I have.”

“I will _not_ let this be the end for myself!” I stood up and pushed him. “I’m not going to sit there and believe I’ll never see her again. Sorry. That’s not something I’m interested in doing.”

“Here I had hope for you,” he grumbled. “You’re worse than the others.”

“Yeah,” I scoffed, “just two years, though, right?”

Two years trapped in hell, and my only company was a pessimistic shell of a man with a bad haircut. _Great_. I had to find a way out of there.

 

“That one is your room,” he said quietly, “and if you have any medications, they’ll be in the bathroom cabinet.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t look, did you?”

“I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

“Not crazy,” I muttered.

“Didn’t say you were.”

“Not that it’s your business,” I continued, “but I had a mental breakdown a couple years ago. Hospital level. But I’m fine now. Perfectly fine.”

“I didn’t ask,” he whispered. “I get it.”

I pushed past him to grab my meds and take them. “So, what’s the pharmaceutical rules, here? Like, is there going to be an automatic refill?”

He nodded. “I don’t know how. I just know that.”

“Great.” I went in the direction of the room that was apparently mine. “Goodnight, then.”

“If you need anything-”

“I won’t.”

“Heather.” He looked down directly into my eyes. I looked away. “If you need anything, I’m right there. The first night is the hardest.”

“I think I can manage a few bad dreams.”

“Fine. But if you wake up screaming-?”

“Come in and save me, oh handsome prince,” I growled. “Go to bed, Aaron. I’m fine. Don’t look at me like I’m fragile.”

“Everyone has a hard time the first night. I still have nightmares,” he said. “So…”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just – I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be worried about. Please.”

“I’m here,” he said again. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I walked into the dimly lit bedroom and looked around. To one side, there was a dresser beside a closet. The bed was against the back wall, and it didn’t look particularly comfortable. It didn’t look horrible, either, so I supposed it would do. Then, on the other side, there was a wooden desk with an empty, leather-bound notebook sitting on it.

I ran my hands over the paper, wondering why it was there. Then again, it might be nice to keep track of everything going on. There was no way I’d believe this really happened, otherwise.

When I opened the dresser, I found clothes that were exactly my size. I tried not to read too far into it and pulled on pajamas before curling up in the bed.

If I could just think about something else, maybe I could drift…to sleep.

 

“Heather, get up.”

I almost fell out of bed due to the rude awakening. “What the fuck-?”

“Time for breakfast.” Aaron was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. “You’re really not going to want to get used to oversleeping here. Or sleeping much at all.”

“What?” I stood up, trying to shake off the sleep.

“In about a week, someone’s going to come and attack us. You will need to be prepared to fight back.” He looked at my bare arms and tilted his head. “I think you’re strong enough.”

I looked at my arms as well, wondering if that was true. “I mean, I was a stagehand. I picked up a lot of heavy equipment.”

“We’ll start your training today. I think you’ll do fine. But first, you’re going to want to eat. Do you need to take any of your medication in the morning?”

“I – I take them at night. They make me sleepy,” I explained. “You’re not my mom. You don’t have to remind me to take my meds.”

He shrugged and backed out of the room. “I was just trying to help. It’s a new environment, which throws off routine.”

“Yeah. Fine. Thanks. Whatever.”

He led me to the kitchen. “I got our eggs for the morning, but that’s something you’ll have to learn to do, okay?”

“I’m from _Wisconsin_ , Aaron. I think I can manage getting some eggs from chickens, alright?”

“Wisconsin? I thought you knew-?”

“After what happened to you, they moved,” I explained. “Fear.”

He nodded. “That makes sense. Was she – was she okay?”

“It is still her biggest fear.” I tried to shake the memory of her cries while I looked for Katherine. I had been so inconsiderate. It was all my fault she had to lose another friend in front of her eyes-

“Stop blaming yourself,” he suggested, opening the fridge. “It doesn’t help anyone, and if they wanted to take you, they would have, no matter what you did.”

I nodded, trying to believe him. “I caused a scene. I was looking for my sister. She’s – um – she’s ten. I thought they took kids, and-”

“Heather.” He looked back at me with that soft kindness in his eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

 

After we ate, he took me outside to the more wooded area. There were targets set up on the trees.

“We’re going to start with the basics,” he said, pulling out a gun. “Okay? So, you basically-”

“I know how to shoot,” I interrupted, “or did you miss the part where I was from Wisconsin.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize Wisconsin was code for Texas,” he snorted. “Here.”

I took it, aimed, and hit the center of three targets with each shot. “There you go.”

“Then, I guess we’ll move straight to crossbows?”

“Fine by me.”

He grabbed two from the shed, handing me one. “Don’t do anything until I show you.”

“How hard can it be?” I countered, but I listened to him anyways. I was sarcastic, but I wasn’t stupid.

He fired, hitting the center of another target. “Did you get that?”

I was pretty sure, so I mimicked what he had done. It didn’t go well. “Shit! I’m so sorry!” I gasped, watched the arrow fly away from any of the nearby targets.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s fine. Just try again, okay? Watch me first?”

It went on like that for an hour. But I was still new and scared, and he was still on edge and irritable, so it did not go well.

“You’re hopeless,” he grunted, throwing the weapons aside. “We’ll try again tomorrow. I’m not doing this right now, though.”

I frowned. “I’m not hopeless, I’m just new!”

He shook his head. “Two years. Maybe then I’ll get the right person.” He was muttering it to himself, but I still heard, so I shoved him. “What the hell, Heather?”

“You won’t even give me a chance! What’s your problem? I just want to get the hell out of here, okay?”

“You and me both,” he replied, “but there’s no way out. Get that through your thick skull, and then maybe we’ll make some progress.”

I pushed him again. “I’m going inside.”

“Heather!”

 

I spent the rest of the day reading in the library, trying to find anything that might tell me about the portals. There was limited history, and mainly, it was filled with fiction.

“Dammit.” I threw a collection of fairytales at the wall. “Useless.”

“No offense, but what were you expecting from-” Aaron walked in a picked up the book. “- _Guggenheim’s Complete Fairytales and Folklore_?”

“Fairytales and folklore are reflections of things that actually happen, sometimes,” I muttered. “Why are you here?”

“I made dinner. So, are you going to eat in the dining room, or should I bring it in here?”

“I thought you didn’t think this was worth looking into.” I looked up at him, trying to convey my annoyance.

He sighed and raised his hands up in surrender. “I know. Look, I’ve been here a long time. I’ve done all this. It’s not fair to deprive you of your own research, though. I just – I also don’t feel it’s fair for you to get your hopes up.”

I picked up another book. “Yeah, well, maybe I’ll catch something that you missed.”

“Yeah, you know what, sure. I’ll bring you some dinner.” He left the room again.

“Alright, time for AU Poe,” I muttered, opening the next book. “Bring me some interdimensional travel references…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter isn't even the same as the original second chapter. It's totally wild out here. Rewriting. Changing things. Whoa


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